


gotta get with my friends

by wanderseeing



Series: What is this? A love story for ANTS? [2]
Category: Ant-Man (2015), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awkwardness, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Pre-Slash, gen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 06:22:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4596237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderseeing/pseuds/wanderseeing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The spice girls might have been onto something.</p><p>(aka: Scott meets Rhodey. He fears for his life.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	gotta get with my friends

Scott was not joking. If he met any more famous people today, he was actually going to spontaneously combust. Hank was going to have to go and find someone else to wear the Ant-Man suit because Scott would be nothing but a pile of ash. And if Scott does explode, he was going to set Tony Stark on fire with him, because Tony won’t stop ambushing him with _famous people_.

“Rhodey, Scott. Scott, Rhodey,” Tony said happily as he gestured between the two men. He was smiling like he had no clue about the agony Scott was going through right now, which he does, because Scott has mentioned his inability to function normally in front of celebrities before. Tony had been trusted with a _secret_ , and here he was, abusing the hell out of it for his own sick entertainment.

Scott understood Hank’s resentment about Starks a little better now.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from everyone, so it’s nice to finally meet the guy beneath the bug mask in person,” Colonel Rhodes—actual _War Machine_ , oh my _god_ —said as he reached out to shake Scott’s hand. Scott prayed to every deity he knew about that his palm wasn’t as sweaty as it felt as they clasped hands. He opened his mouth to reply.

_Be cool. Don’t freak out. Be cool._

“You’ve got, like, a _super_ firm grip,” Scott blurted out. The Colonel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

_Fuck._

Thankfully, Tony finally decided to put Scott out of his misery and stepped in to mediate before Scott could say anything else about the Colonel’s hands.

“He means hi,” Tony said, sounding entirely too gleeful because he knew exactly this would happen. “He gets a little starstruck sometimes—you’ll get used to it.”

Debilitating crush aside, Scott thought Tony Stark was kind of an asshole. He turned his head to give Tony the most betrayed look he could possibly convey without saying anything. Tony, being the kind of asshole that he is, did nothing but wink back.

“... _right_ ,” Colonel Rhodes said, giving Scott a strange look as he withdrew his hand from Scott’s slowly and discreetly wiped it against his pants. Tony coughed a laugh into his fist and Scott tried to calm himself by thinking of all the things he was going to shrink when they got back to Tony’s lab. He could start with the favourite tools first.

Before Scott could try and salvage his dignity with some kind of smart one-liner, or something equally witty that he’d picked from Clint, the Colonel’s eyes immediately zeroed in on Scott’s shoulders. Or, more specifically, Tony’s arm, which had been resting on Scott’s shoulders since he’d steered Scott into the room without telling him he was going to be introduced to the pilot of the War Machine armor.

Scott hadn’t even realized that Tony hadn’t removed his arm until now, when Colonel Rhodes’ eyes narrowed down at it, before they glanced up to squint at Scott suspiciously. Granted, Scott was used to receiving these kinds of looks, but he usually had an idea as to why he was getting them. Since Scott wasn’t currently stealing anything, or doing something remotely illegal (unless enjoying the warmth of Tony against his side counted), he had no idea what he’d done to warrant such a look. It was Tony’s arm! Why wasn’t _he_ the one getting the suspicious looks?

Apparently, Tony had noticed the tension in the room spike because he flapped his other hand at the Colonel. “Aw, come on, boo-bear. Don’t look at him like that, he hasn’t done anything wrong. Anty here’s got the patriotic seal of approval from Chasing Liberty himself. He’s _fine._ No danger at all.”

The Colonel frowned at Scott before turning to Tony. “What the hell is an ‘Anty’?”

Tony shrugged. “‘s a nickname, Rhodey-bee, don’t play dumb,” he said, rolling his eyes. The Colonel’s frown only deepened further, and when he turned back to Scott, Scott just barely restrained himself from letting out a small ‘ _meep_ ’.

He might have let it out anyway, he couldn’t be sure. Not with how the Colonel’s stare was making him really terrified for his life right now. Maybe he could go and hide out with Kurt’s family back in Russia. They did tell him he was welcome to stay with them if he ever found himself in the country.

That hasn't happened yet, but it’s beginning to seem likely.

“How long have you known each other, exactly?” Colonel Rhodes asked abruptly, ignoring Tony’s sigh of exasperation as he shook his head then wandered off.

 _Wandered off._ Tony has literally just left Scott alone. With the _Colonel._ Who not only looked like he could kill Scott with a good, quick smack-down and then have no qualms hiding the body somewhere in the woods, but also exuded intimidation like a tap left running. Never mind his crush on Tony Stark, the man was clearly an _Asshole_. With capital letters and everything.

“I, uh, a—a few weeks, I think? The day I got invited—they brought me to the compound and invited me to join the team. That—yeah. Then. Sir,” Scott stuttered out. This was terrible. Scott has done many things, but he didn’t know if he could survive being hunted down by War Machine. The Captain would help him out, right?

Whatever Scott said seemed to work some kind of magic though, because the frown on the Colonel’s face faded, replaced by a contemplative look. He leaned back a bit and considered Scott carefully. “Does Tony talk to you often?” he asked casually, as if he didn’t look like he would pounce the moment Scott said the wrong thing.

_Watch closely as the large cat encircles it prey. It can smell its fear. The prey waits in stillness, heart beating fast as it looks for a way to escape. If it stays still long enough, it may just be able to live another day._

Maggie’s been making Cassie watch nature documentaries recently, so Scott’s been watching them too. He thinks he can relate to them a little better, now, because he has half a mind to drop to the floor and play dead.

_Play it cool, Scotty, he can smell your fear._

“Um, yeah? A lot, actually. Almost every day,” Scott said, and the Colonel hummed thoughtfully.

“And he invites you to the Tower often, too?”

Scott had no idea what was going on, but he was still in one piece, so honesty clearly hasn’t failed him yet. He nods his head, thinks about it for a bit, then adds: “Yup! He lets me use his labs to work on stuff. Or we, um, work on stuff. Together. We don’t really have a schedule, but he lets me stay in one of the spare guest rooms during some of the bigger, ah, projects. Sir.”

The Colonel suddenly looked at Scott like he was re-assessing him, his eyebrows climbing back up in surprise. “He’s brought you to his—” Colonel Rhodes cut himself off and let out a small, disbelieving ‘ _huh_ ’, before crossing his arms and snorting. “Well, alright then,” he said, before tossing an arm over Scott’s shoulders and calling out to Tony, who had ended up on the other side of the hangar to peruse the fighter jets.

“Told you you’d like him,” Tony said smugly once he reached them, his hands clasped behind his back. “You like anyone who calls you ‘sir’.”

“We’ve had a discussion about things that stay in the bedroom, Tony,” the Colonel replied dryly, before he shrugged and clapped Scott on the shoulder. _Ow_. “But I was just making sure about something. He’s cool. We good, Lang?”

Scott stared up at the Colonel with wide eyes and nodded dumbly, because War Machine thought he was _cool._ Actual _War Machine_ thought that he, Scott Lang, was a _cool guy._  This was it. Scott could keel over and die now.

“Great, now you’ve made him deliriously happy. Good job, Jimmy,” Scott distantly heard Tony drawl sarcastically. It was followed by a wry chuckle. “You’re just jealous you can’t make him speechless just by calling him ‘cool guy’ anymore,” the Colonel shot back.

Scott wondered if Luis has been secretly putting psychotropic drugs in his waffles, because his life has just been way too bizarre recently. If he was, Scott needed to send him a thank you card and a gift basket full of syrup ASAP.

 

* * *

 

“Pep. Pepper. Pepper-pot. Peppy-girl.”

Pepper wasn’t exactly sure what she’d done in a past life to deserve Tony Stark kicking at her desk before she’d had her morning cup of coffee, but it must have been absolutely terrible. Maybe she’d been some sort of dictator. Or hell, maybe this was some kind of ironic karma and she had been that one particularly mean nanny that Tony mentioned he’d had growing up.

It was either one of those, or life just hated her on principle, which. That was just sad, really.

“What,” she said flatly, because she wasn’t in the mood and it was seven-thirty in the _morning._ God help her, she would strangle this man if it wasn’t anything urgent, she really would. The Board would probably give her another promotion for it, maybe make her super-CEO or something and then change the name to Potts Industries once and for all.

Instead of replying, Tony just beamed at her and leaned back in his chair, jiggling his leg excitedly. Silence fell, with the exception of Tony’s fingers drumming quickly against the armrests of his chair and Pepper’s purposeful deep breathing as she tried to keep her temper in check. _Think of your happy place, Potts_. _Think calm and happy thoughts._

When five minutes passed without a word, Pepper exhaled noisily and gave up. It was half-past seven in the morning, Tony had probably left dirty shoe marks all over the front of her desk and she hasn’t had any coffee yet. Pepper was allowed to Not Deal With This right now. In fact, she was allowed to Not Deal With It anytime she wanted, because she was the CEO of Fortune 500 company, the proper heir of which tended to forget that she was no longer his personal assistant.

Tony must have seen his imminent death in the storm brewing on her face because the moment Pepper opened her mouth, he waved his arms to cut her off.

“Wait, hold on! Sorry, I… forgot. To ask. What—what I was going to ask, hold on a moment,” he said in a rush. He held his hands up in surrender like he usually did when he was trying to placate her, which was useless at this point because Pepper wanted to reach out and smack him with one of her shoes. He forgot to ask what he came here to ask her? _Really_?

“You _forgot,"_ she echoed, her fingers twitching as she restrained herself, because beating Tony with a Jimmy Choo was an injustice to the shoe, and she prided herself on keeping her things in quality condition. The phone was beginning to look awfully tempting to throw, though. Maybe using it as a projectile would magically cure Tony of his communication issues.

Tony smiled sheepishly and rubbed at the back of his head. “In my defense, I haven’t slept in about 30 hours, so my head’s kind of—” he made a vague gesture with his hands, “—and all that. But anyway. Tonight. Around six-ish. Maybe seven? I want you to meet someone.”

Pepper closed her eyes and inhaled. Very deeply. _Think of vacationing in the Bahamas. Or Tahiti. Maybe even a cruise around the Caribbean._

“Pep?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Are you telling me or are you asking me, Tony, because those are two very different things.” When he opened his mouth, she held up a hand and cut him off. “If the next sentence that comes out of your mouth doesn't make sense, I will actually have you tossed out of my office.”

Tony looked appropriately cowed, which was just as well, because it didn't matter which he answered, Pepper was going to give him a verbal walloping anyway. “I was… asking?” he ventured tentatively.

“ _Asking_ ,” Pepper repeated flatly. “You barged into my office at half-past seven and kicked my desk for ten minutes to _ask_ me if I was _free this evening_.”

Tony shrunk back in his seat at the deadly tone of her voice, eyes wide. Good. He _should_ be afraid. He deserved it.

“I was just—” he started, but Pepper was having none of it.

“Out.”

“But—”

“ _Out,_ Tony. I will call you if I want to, and if I don't, you will not bother me about it because I am _busy_. Get out before I lose my temper and schedule you in for morning Board meetings for the entirety of next week.”

A horrified expression flashed across Tony’s face. He swallowed, nodded quickly, then scampered.

After the door closed behind him, Pepper sat quietly for a few minutes to collect herself before grabbing her phone and shooting James a text. If anyone would know what this was all about, it would be the one other person who had more experience at Tony-wrangling than even she did.

‘  _Tony said he wanted me to meet someone_.’

The reply was instantaneous.

‘ _Scott Lang. I met him yesterday._ ’

Scott Lang? The ant-guy? _Now_ she was awake. Why did Tony want her to meet the ant-guy? The most logical conclusion would be that it was related to Avengers business, but Pepper had nothing to with that, even if Tony and James always kept her in the loop. The only Avengers she had frequent contact with were Natasha and Steve, because they were always the best choices whenever the Board wanted team representatives at company charity events and also because they liked attending art auctions just as much as she did.

She sighed and called James up as she began perusing the top of the stack of files on her desk. Patents, patents, patents—ah, another official complaint about Tony from a Board member. She set that aside to have her secretary add it to the pile with the rest.

“ _Curious?_ ” James greeted when he picked up the phone. Pepper snorted and began to scan through the documents in the first patent folder.

“Of course I am. I have my suspicions though. Is it what I think it is?”

“ _Tony’s brought Lang to his_ lab _, Potts. He hounds him out at every possible moment, he's already given him a nickname_ and _he likes having his hands on him. I don't even think Tony has a clue he's doing it._ ”

Pepper’s eyebrows shot up. A nickname? And willingly bringing someone into his _lab_? The last time this happened, it had been Bruce, but Pepper was sure that _Tony_ was sure that Bruce was straight. Also, he didn’t touch Bruce enough to warrant James’ notice, so she’d brushed it off as Tony being overly-excited about having a new friend.

“ _Huh,_ ” she said disbelievingly because _okay_. She’d guessed the situation was something close, but she didn’t think it was this big. Because Tony Stark? Has apparently developed a serious crush on one Scott Lang.

“ _That’s exactly what I said,_ ” James said with a laugh. “ _In fact, he brought him to the labs the day they met. From what I was told, it’s been kind of a standing appointment since._ ”

Pepper smiled. “Really? I can’t imagine someone else working in Tony’s lab with him. That's usually what the shared lab is for, isn't it? Not even Bruce goes down to Tony’s lab,” she said. “But I’ll be honest, the thought of Tony having tinker-dates with someone is actually kind of cute.”

“ _So is the guy_ ,” James said, sounding amused. “ _Though he seemed pretty oblivious. And he’s awkward as hell. He checks out, though. Bit of a record, but mostly minor things. The guy seems like the type you’d probably want to surround in blankets and keep at home._ ”

“He called you ‘sir’, didn’t he,” Pepper accused fondly. “You like anyone who calls you that.”

“ _You hang around Tony too much,_ ” James complained, but it wasn’t a denial. “ _Anyway, when you meet him, don’t give him the third degree. I wasn’t kidding about the blanket thing. I barely got started and he already looked like he was going to shit himself._ ” He sounded entirely too pleased with himself about it.

“That’s because you’re a scary man, James. Compared to you, I look warm and welcoming,” Pepper says, smirking to herself as she signed where she needed. She set the folder aside and moved on to the next one.

“ _Yeah, but you’re actually really not. Besides, if you question him now, he might catch on and we’ll never get money out of this.”_

Pepper wanted to defend herself, but it’s not like it wasn’t true, so she let it drop. “Stakes?”

“ _Winner gets to give him the actual third degree, loser can’t ignore any of Tony’s late-night, lovesick-mooning calls._ ”

Pepper arched an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

James snickered. “ _You’re saying that after I’ve told you that he lets Scott work in his lab?_ ”

She thought about it for a moment, then realized she would probably be learning a lot more about Scott Lang in the coming months if she lost this one. Knowing Tony, it was going to be more than she needed to know, too.

“ _Thought so_ ,” James said smugly when she didn’t bother to reply.

Pepper ignored him. “Three months,” she said primly.

“ _Two,_ ” James replied, before adding: “ _Good luck with losing, Potts._ ”

Pepper rolled her eyes and hung up, before reaching out to the intercom on her desk and pressing her PA’s call button.

“Hi, Joanie, good morning! Can you cancel any meetings I have from six this evening onwards? I have a dinner to attend that I can’t miss.”

**Author's Note:**

> come follow me on twitter [@bootyvenger](https://twitter.com/bootyvenger) for tott rants, marvel, teen wolf + a butt load of other fandoms!
> 
> or alternatively, hit me up on [my tumblr](http://teaamhuman.tumblr.com) and send me prompts or what not bc this ship needs more fic ASAP.
> 
> (also this fic is hardly edited and also unbeta-ed so forgive any mistakes!)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **EDIT!!! (May 27 16)**
> 
>  
> 
> So I've finally finished my first year as a Creative Writing student and now that summer's started, I finally have time to write fic again. But instead of starting with new stuff, I thought I'd go back over fics I've already written and see if I've learned anything so far by editing them. Hopefully, this fic is a bit better, but eh, there's always gonna be room for improvement.
> 
> THIS DINGY BOAT IS SMALL, BUT IT CONTINUES TO LIVE ON!


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